Parental Intervention
by Venquine1990
Summary: We hear about Sly's dad all the time when playing the Sly Cooper games, but what about Carmelita? What of her parents? Will the Fox elders be able to bring Sly and Carmelita together? And if so, what influence will this have on future capers? Read it all in Parental Intervention. PS. WARNING Lots and lots of History takes place in Chapter 4. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, hihi!
1. The Invitation

_**Hey everyone,  
**__**Here it is, as promised. Story Plan #10, with extra content, chapters and everything, including the same hint as before. While Plan #8 took place at the end of Sly 3, will this story take place after the Panda King joins the Cooper Gang in Sly 3.  
**__**Also, a quick warning ahead of time. The first two chapters might be a little short as chapter one only consists of little under 4 pages on Word and only 2.300 words, but I do more than make up for that with the chapter about the Cooper Vault, which I believe will be chapter 4 of this whole story, which has 4 chapters and an epilogue.  
**__**Hope you, enjoy,**_

_**Venquine1990**_

* * *

_**Parental Intervention**_

_**Amelia's POV**_

The news I received from Interpol only a few days ago, that my precious daughter, my Carmelita, could have almost been forced into a wedding with a criminal for a husband, one who deals in ghosts and zombies no less, was news that had me more reeling than any other news I have received since she started working there.  
Yes, the news of her kidnap by Clockwerk had worried me, the news of her siding with Cooper and being an Outlaw had made me furious at Interpol for even thinking this and the news that she had been proven innocent had made me look at the delivery boy with a look that asked: _Did you expect anything else, perhaps_?  
The delivery boy, an Interpol Inspector that was just a few ranks under Carmelita's own rank, had been showing through his facial features that he had and this had been the last time he had come, other officers telling me of Carmelita's other adventures; her arrests in the Australian Outback, in Holland and the Italian city of Venice.

But now, to hear how Carmelita had believed herself to be able to catch Cooper if she pretended to be someone's bride and instead almost married herself off to some cracked-up cook with feathers who could control vampires and used this to gain unjust control over a small village in China was something I never expected.  
Because of this have I invited my daughter over, not even accepting her claims that she has to keep being on the job in case Sly Cooper tries anything and telling her that an unexpected, unplanned wedding is a little more important than some international criminal, which had made my daughter blush red, but concede.  
She, her father and I myself are now seated in our simple small farm house, that actually houses the world's largest Virtual Reality Room of the world in its basement, and all have a simple cup of coffee and a small shot of wine standing on our glass coffee table in front of us, Carmelita looking slightly embarrassed and worried.

"Carmelita, what happened? We heard some tales, but you know your father and I no longer trust those dumb delivery boys, at least not since that ridiculous framing incident last year." I then tell her gently and the younger vixen regains some of her own natural color as the redness of her cheeks recedes and she says:  
"Mama, I was on the hunt for Cooper. I traced him to China and there I heard him talk with Bentley about how he was planning to kidnap someone's bride. I just really wanted to trap the Ringtail with his own plans, so I donned myself as this so-called bride and went along with this so-called wedding, believing it was all part of Cooper's plan.  
I then felt someone grab me and because I could barely see anything through the mask I was wearing, did I just start to shoot my Shotgun fire and did I hit that strange General, that I – after frying him – discovered had kidnapped his bride-to-be and had been controlling the people of the Kunlun Mountain Village through vampires.  
I had to arrest him, mama, Cooper had escaped me and the bride was nowhere to be found. I couldn't show up empty-handed and the guy I arrested had a record the size of dad's basement on his name." At this I smile, glad to finally hear the whole story and I ask: "So Cooper tricked you in order to aid you in arresting another criminal?"

And while the younger vixen rolls her eyes, do I already know that part of her agrees with me as this definitely isn't the first time where I came to this conclusion after hearing Carmelita's stories. My husband then hums with his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his laidback chest, making us look at him as I ask:  
"Andrew?" The man looks at me with only one eye, indicating that he seems to be thinking deeply about something very important to him and Carmelita, who sits besides him on the couch, lays a hand on his arm as she worriedly asks: "Daddy?" Making me smile as Carmelita might be brutal as a cop, she is always caring to me and my partner.

"Carmelita, I – I agree with your mother. This is – the umpteenth time that you have been able to capture some terrible, world class criminal, all because you were chasing Cooper and he led you to find all the evidence you need to lay down a legal arrest. I don't know what to think of it, but that man has more intentions than he lets on."  
At this Carmelita really looks worried and I know she takes her father's approval for her work seriously, but the man sighs and asks: "Can't you try and invite him over? Even once, Carm-Carm? I have been hearing these tales of how he uses his silver tongue to escape you and how he helps you arrest those guys long enough.  
That guy is messing with you and walking in circles around you and then I'm not even talking about him as a criminal, because you being able to constantly trace him down and all those times that you nearly caught him definitely have me very, very impressed, but the way he has such an interest in you – has me deeply, deeply concerned."  
At this I cringe as I can't help but agree with my husband and then my daughter sighs and says: "Papa, if I can't even trace him enough to catch him or find his actual hideout, then how I ever supposed to try and invite him?" To this Andrew repeats his daughter's actions as he sighs, admitting her to be right before I ask:  
"Why not try the next time you find him somewhere else? Might even throw him off his guard enough you can catch him." And while the prospect of this makes my daughter smile, do I sincerely hope that either my husband gets proven wrong about that Raccoon's interest in my daughter or that his intentions are proven acceptable.

_**Okay, quick An in-between. I know that between Panda King and Dimitri nothing really happens in Cannon, but this isn't Cannon, so let's pretend that Sly and the others decide on a little test Heist to see how well their new team can work together.**_

_**Sly's POV**_

The way that we can make use of Penelope's RC Chopper and Car to distract our foes, Panda King's fire and fireworks to blind them and Guru's control of actual animals to – together with Murray's muscles – get past them and get to our target went better than either Bentley or I had expected when we planned this test heist.  
It had been to make certain that the whole team could work together once we got to the Cooper Vault on Kaine Island, yet Bentley had confided in me his fear that we might need more than one test Heist, a fear that the others had amazingly well proven to be wrong as I am already out of the target's location, treasure in hand.  
The treasure itself had been a simple one, a forged painting that was supposed to take the place of a very, very famous painting that adorns one of Paris' most famous and well-known museums and while Penelope hadn't understood why we would want to go for a fake, had she accepted the fact that it was just a test run for everyone.  
Personally, I don't get why anyone would consider this blotch of green, aquamarine, opal and sea-bluish green stripes that are merged together like a flower made of crystal and then kept up to the sun to be art, but Bentley had always told me that I was more of a real-life appreciator than a crafted one – whatever that meant.

I can't really say I care all that much, but that is mostly because I – again – have the luck to have the ever-gorgeous Carmelita Montoya Fox chasing me, the furious way her eyes light up with the determination to catch me, her near-precise aim and her incredible use of muscles as she chases after me almost distracting me from my run.  
I, of course, have no doubt that she has recognized the painting as a forged and I know for certain that she is already aware that it's not my own as we have been playing the game of cops and robbers long enough that the fox knows what is and what is not my area of expertise and profession, yet just having her chase me makes me enjoy this test Heist.

I make sure to scurry over the most impossible buildings of Paris, even going so far as to slide over one part of the glass-stained, pyramid-shaped roof of the Louvre before running at super speed from the ever-enticing vixen that had stopped shooting me when I had dropped onto the roof and had restarted as soon as she slid off herself.  
However, I do have one issue on my hand and that is that the area around the Louvre is one I barely ever venture into and this – unfortunately enough – causes for me to run into a dead end, just when I want to press my ear-communicator and ask Bentley for directions. Looking around for an escape do I gulp as I turn to face the fox.

_**Carmelita's POV**_

"I don't believe this. There's no way out for the ringtail. I can finally catch him. I – I can finally have justice punish him for all the crimes he has committed over the years. I – I – I need to give him that dumb invitation my parents asked me to send him. I have to let him go. WHY? Why did my parents ask this of me?"  
Goes through my mind, my eyes having been wide with shock when I realized I had chased Cooper into a dead end, the walls on all sides too high for the Raccoon to climb and no fire-escape or other form of ladder for the Ringtail to reach and while I had been ecstatic at first, do I now feel pure defeat as I realize this.  
I groan and let my shock-pistol drop alongside my head, knowing just fine that I must have confused the living daylights out of the criminal in front of me and while amazed that he isn't using my defeated pose to run past me, do I instead hear his suave voice reach my ears as he asks: "Something bothering you, Inspector?"

And the voice only makes me groan harder before I look up, glare at him in defeat and say: "My parents want to meet with you." And the way that his eyes widen, his lower lip almost sags down and he even drops the forged art actually makes the hate I feel for having to let him go just when I finally have him caught lessen slightly.  
"So - no arresting me?" The Raccoon asks, while I had actually expected of him to just flee after hearing me say this and I sigh, retaking my earlier pose but keeping my shock-pistol aimed at the ground and say: "No Cooper, not this time. I will remember that you can easily get lost around the Louvre, but I'm not arresting you."  
At this a playful smirk appears on the Ringtail's face and while I feel confused over the fact that he has yet to make a run for it, does he pull his cane out the holder on his back and lean against it as he asks: "Any reason your folks want to see me?" And while I wonder when this chase turned into some kind of meeting, do I answer:

"They're getting uncertain over your motives – regarding me." This seems to, again, throw the Ringtail of guard as he pulls himself up from leaning against his weapon and asks guardedly: "Why?" Making me roll my eyes as I say: "Because they wonder why you keep leading me to bad guys to arrest, why else?"  
At this the Ringtail seems to regain his earlier confidence as he smirks at me once again and asks: "Why shouldn't I?" Making me glare at him in defiance and say: "Why don't you just visit them and ask it then?" To which the Ringtail makes me want to scream as he smoothly answers: "Because I don't know their address?"  
I glare at him and throw him the paper on which dad had written his home address before I say: "I'm due to meeting with them in three days from now, don't be late." And with that I storm out of the dead end street way, the reminder that I finally had Cooper and that I had to let him get away doing nothing to my temper.  
But then suddenly does something swish past me and when I take a closer look at it, do I see that it's the forged painting with a note attached to the back of the canvas that says _Thanks for the test, I'll come unguarded. Should I bring anything?_ And the usual signature card, but also – shockingly enough – the address of the forger on it.

_**Okay, that's it!  
**__**Trust me, I loved writing Carmelita's part here. She finally found a way to trap her target, that she had been hunting worldwide and that she had nearly caught little over 2 years ago, and then she has to let him go because he can't visit her parents like she promised when he's in prison – unfair, don't you think?  
**__**Speaking of the two year thing that apparently takes place between Sly 2 and 3, I'm not entirely certain if it was really 2 years that transpired between the two games. I'm basing that off of the Sly Cooper Series that are shown on Youtube, yet if you look at the introduction of Murray's chapter in Sly 3 it does kind of make sense.  
**__**You catching my drift here?**_

_**Venquine1990**_


	2. The Actual Meeting

_**Hey everyone,  
**__**Hope you're enjoying the story so far. I know I could have ended the Story Plan part at either the end of Carmelita's meeting with her parents or her meeting with Sly, but the first just seemed beyond too short and the other just too long to make it a proper story plan. I did, however, enjoy writing Carmelita's POV last chapter.  
**__**You too? Let me know,**_

_**Venquine1990**_

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_**Three days later  
**__**Sly's POV**_

Bentley and the others had been worried sick when they heard that Carmelita's parents had invited me over for a meeting and Bentley had triple checked the sincerity of the address almost every day since, until I got mad with him and asked him why he was so suspicious of Carmelita after all she had done to help us over the years.  
The Turtle had felt sorry, but had told me how he just didn't want to see me behind bars now that we were so close to getting entrance to my family's legacy and while I had – again – felt honored to have a surrogate brother like him, had I made the agreement with the whole team that they could come and watch over me, unguarded.  
Panda King and Penelope had been most distrustful of this, telling us they had barely ever – bar the short time that Panda King had eluded himself – gone anywhere without either their fireworks or their mechanics, yet I had told them that Bentley and Murray would protect them and that they could flee with the van if they felt it needed.  
The two new members had agreed to these terms and while I feel a little bad for taking my whole team with me while I had told Carmelita I would come unguarded, had I told my team that I would tell her father of their location as I didn't want to arouse anymore reasons for either of the two foxes to be suspicious of me.

By now I have adorned my best outfit and have left my cane with Bentley, the turtle having accepted it with trepidation and telling me he would shoot it my way at the first sign of danger, but I had glared at him and told him not to shoot it my way until I gave a very clear sign of needing it, telling him I didn't accept no for an answer.  
I am standing in front of a simple, two story-farm house that has a wooden structure and iron slightly showing itself here and there as a roof, while covered by hundreds and thousands bits of straw and while I am amazed at how simple these people can live seeing the fame of their daughter, do I smile at hearing a voice speak:  
"Didn't think you'd come, Cooper." And I turn around, smiling as I see Carmelita seated at her red sports car, her usual outfit and a different necklace having replaced the one that she usually hangs her police badge on when on duty. I open the door of her car for her and offer her my hand as I say: "It would be rude to accept such an invitation."  
While in my head I continue: "Especially because this almost feels as if you're introducing your new boyfriend to your mum and dad." But I know this thought will only anger the fox and while she reluctantly takes my hand, do I keep quiet about my thoughts and instead guide her over to her parents' home as she asks:

"No cane, Ringtail?" And while that simple nickname makes a shiver of delight run down my spine, do I keep it from showing and say: "I said I would come unguarded and I came unguarded – although my team didn't exactly agree with that and demanded they be allowed to watch this whole thing take place – need to protect and all that."  
The fox seems impressed with my answer and asks: "Where are they then?" To which, as we reach the front porch, shrug and say: "Probably outback, hiding themselves along the fence line and whatnot." At this a small, playful smirk is seen on the fox's face and while I let go off her hand, does she use her other to knock on the door.

A fox as beautiful as the vixen besides me opens the door a minute later and while her eyes are soft forest green whereas her daughter's are brown and the fox looks me over very shortly, making me want to raise an eyebrow were it not for the manners my mother taught me before her passing before she smiles and says:  
"Come in, dears." And just this simple use of the plural word has most of my worries already at ease, making me quickly but silently tap my ear-communicator twice as a sign to Bentley that everything is going fine and safe so far, my eyes on my hostess to make sure she doesn't see me do this while she guides us to the living room.  
There I meet another fox, this one male and with Carmelita's beautiful brown eyes, but then with a darker brownish shade to his fur, who is seated on a warm purple couch in front of a glass coffee table and who only turns his head my way before he says: "Take a seat, lad. Carmelita, besides me, would you dear?"

And while part of me really wants to have the beautiful fox on my side, do I feel pleased at how sweet the male fox cares for his daughter as I take the purple chair in front of the man, my eyes furtively seeking out my friends through the glass doors that lead to the backyard before I decide to start this talk with honesty and say:  
"Sir, before we begin would I like to inform you that my friends are concerned for my safety, seeing the professional differences between your daughter and myself, and that I could not talk them out of hiding in your backyard in order to protect me were anything to go wrong. I did however order them not to make a move unless I signaled them."  
The man nods and grumbles: "Already spotted them, laddie. That panda you seem to be working with apparently needs some lessons in stealth." This makes me cringe and say: "I would also like to let you know that Bentley, my turtle friend, ordered me to keep my communicator in my ear and that I was to give signals of safety or distress."  
The fox nods, his eyes actually shining with approval and he asks: "And did he ask you to reply this to us as well, lad?" But I shake my head and say: "He's currently cursing me for revealing this. The communicator is in my ear and I can hear him very clearly." And this – to my shock – actually makes the fox before me smirk.

Then the elder female fox walks over and asks: "Do you put anything in your coffee, dear?" But I shake my head and say: "I have sworn coffee off since I was 17, ma'am. A bad experience and I prefer not to let that reoccur – for more than one reason." I end with the awkwardness of my memories sounding through my voice.  
The woman giggles at this, while Carmelita raises a single eyebrow at me and while the elder female fox sets the table with three cups of coffee and four shots of – what looks to be – white wine, does she then return to the kitchen, which I note to be accessible from a door build into a side of the wall behind Carmelita's couch.

I then turn back to the two seated on the couch before me and the man before me asks: "So, Cooper was it, right? What – if I may be so rude to ask – has made you decide to increase the members of your team? According to my Carmelita here you always work with only a turtle and a hippo. Brass and Murter, right?"  
But I shake my head and answer: "Bentley and Murray, sir. And I am growing my team in numbers because of something I have found to be located on Kaine Island." The fox seems intrigued and Carmelita shocked that I am being this honest and while hoping that I can impress her with my tales, do I continue and say:  
"My family has existed since the Ancient Egyptians, Mr. Fox, and all of them were Master Thieves, stealing from other criminals and pulling heists around the world. And – according to sources I have recently discovered – those heists and their rewards are all hidden, deep within an ancient ancestral vault of my family on that very island."  
The man seems shocked and even Carmelita has wide eyes as he asks: "A vault filled with treasures and gold dating all the way back to Ancient Egypt? Are you sure of this, lad?" I nod and take the map that I had stolen from Carmelita months ago out of the backpack I had taken with me, laying it open on the coffee table as I say:

"This is the map I was told about by the old friend of my father, Jim McSweeney. It wasn't easy reaching him, but who would ever search for a Cooper Gang member – inside a prison cell." Carmelita looks up from the map with shock, while her father actually laughs and says: "Too true, lad. Old gang or new, no one would do so."  
And yet again do I praise McSweeney for all he has done for me since I found him in his cell before I say: "It certainly wasn't easy getting this map as my team had been incomplete at the time, all of us having suffered in different manners due to our last caper with Clock-la, but in the end, we managed to retrieve it nonetheless.  
However, when I saw what had actually happened with Kaine Island, how the new owner Dr. M. had changed it into a near inaccessible fortress, did Bentley and I agree that we had to get some team upgrades before we could even make an attempt to get to the vault door, hence our excursions around the world for new comrades."

The fox nods while his wife sets down a warm cup of water for me and a large basket with all kinds of teabags in it and she asks: "Sugar or honey, dear?" But I shake my head and rub a finger over the fur of my chin as I examine the different flavors the dear woman has stalled out for me, smiling as I spot my favorite and ask:  
"Are you a fan of Egyptian Melange as well, milady? I must admit I don't find many who can enjoy such a taste." To this the woman seems to light up and says: "Neither can I. I've been trying to get so many of my friends to like the flavor, but the strength of it always puts them off, even if I just let it drench for a few seconds."  
At this I nod, having experienced the same with Bentley and Murray for a few weeks and even with my newest team members over the last few weeks and I say: "I know what you mean. I was hoping that either Panda King or Guru could enjoy the flavor, but even they think it the wrong taste for tea – god only knows why."

The fox smiles at me and nods and while I can't help but feel as if I've been here for years, does Carmelita know exactly how to take that feeling away in a second as she asks: "Cooper, I thought the Fiendish Five murdered your parents, so why did you allow the Panda King into your team?" And instantly I tense.  
Her parents look at the gorgeous fox in shock and while part of me can understand where she comes from, do I feel only one answer worthy to her question as I answer: "I allowed it, Inspector, because I have – during our last caper – learned enough about Panda King to see past his misdeeds to me and my family and to appreciate his skills."  
At this, while the insult is very subtle and deeply masked by my careful tone of voice, does the fox still cringe in recognition of the slight against her and while hoping that this can become a first step in my path to have her by my side, do I still – now openly – give two taps to my communicator, stopping Bentley from muttering about an attack.  
The turtle is silenced quite abruptly and even asks: "Are you sure, Sly?" To which I tap the earpiece twice more, hearing the turtle sigh in my ear as I lower my hand again and the male fox says: "My apologies for my daughter, Cooper." But I shake my head and say: "I am as much as fault as she, though in a different manner."

The three foxes around me look confused and I say: "I have come in, accepted your tea and spoken with you as if this were an annual thing, yet I have completely forgotten one vital aspect of this meeting; to ask for your names." The three look shocked and then a pleasant smile appears on the female fox's face as she says:  
"Call me Amelia, dear, and this is my husband, Andrew." I nod in acknowledged greeting and this seems to be exactly what Andrew had been waiting for as he stretches his arms out and says: "Well, time to get to the point where we invited you for in the first place, if you ask me. No time like the present as they always say."  
Instantly the other side of my communicator turns silent and I tense my muscles, ready to defend myself and hoping I won't have to offend anyone else in this house as I hear the man ask: "Cooper, several times over the past few years now, have you aided my daughter in catching crooks and criminals that are greater than you yourself.  
You have risked your hide, your life and – apparently at some points – even your team, yet the end results always were that you escaped justice and that my daughter got to raise in ranks due to the amazing arrests on highly dangerous criminals, on which you and your team usually provided her the required evidence.  
My question is, Cooper lad, why? Why would a criminal of your caliber even so much as want to help someone who works on the other side of the law? What is it that drives you to help my daughter like that? Why do you always lure her exactly there were your fallen victims are, evidence required for their arrest and everything?

Why. Do. You. Do. This?" The man ends, putting emphasis on each and every word and making me feel more nervous and more as if I'm at Interpol HQ, questioned for murdering the queen or something similar with every question he throws at me and while I spare a quick glance his daughter's way, do I hear Bentley ask:  
"Now, Sly?" But just that one look, that one glance upon her openly curious face, her brown eyes shining with such a strong need to understand as she and her parents look at me, makes me again tap the earpiece twice, making the turtle on the other side groan and mutter: "You have just too much patience, Sly."  
But the motion seems to appease the foxes in front of me and while part of me is shouting not to do this, to just tap the earpiece again, make a wise little joke and get out of here with – hopefully – a chance to kiss Carmelita, do the manners I have been taught by my parents before their deaths forbid me from this and do I answer:

"Love." The fox on my left looks shocked at this answer, while the two in front of me now look even more curious than before and I say: "I do it out of love, sir. My family has existed as long as it has because there was always that one person in existence that they were meant for – and your daughter is no exception."  
The fox seems cautious and curious at this and while hoping that I didn't screw this up, do I continue and say: "I love your daughter, sir, I will never deny this. I have loved her since I first laid eyes on her and her chasing me, attempting to catch me and shouting at me as I evade her makes my heists and life as a Master Thief all the more fun.  
I know I am tormenting her by not allowing myself to be caught, but I have always believed that if I were to do so, I would be locked away without ever getting another chance to see her and that is a faith I wish not to live through. I want to see her, every day of my life, even if it means it can only be so when she attempts to catch me."

By now Carmelita looks absolutely floored with shock, while Amelia has a loving smile on her face and her hands clasped over her heart, yet it is Andrew that makes me feel most certain that this was the right thing to do, as while his curiosity is still there, has the cautiousness disappeared from his gaze and stance and is he actually smirking.  
"I thought as much." The man then says, flooring me like I just floored his daughter and while the fox in question jumps up with the shocked gasp of: "Papa!" Does his wife only turn to him in shock and he asks: "Am I right to assume, Heir Cooper, that it was not your idea to switch my daughter for this kidnapped bride-to-be of General Tsao?"  
And while I can hear Bentley gulp in returning fear through my earpiece, do I take a deep breath in order to quell the raging fury that has been building up inside of me every time I get reminded of that event and do I answer: "No, Lord Fox, it was not. It also took my friend Bentley a lot of effort to convince me in the first place.  
Not to mention I have yet to forgive him for taking such a risk, even if he got me agreed to play along once he had lured your Heiress to the chambers of the kidnapped Heiress in question." The fox nods and then he asks: "And if you were to have played a role in the supposed wedding, would that have made it easier for you to agree?"

But I shake my head, making Carmelita look at me weirdly and I say: "I have yet to have earned your daughter's love, let alone her respect. I wish not to force her into anything she herself does not want. I know I have a long way before she would even be willing to call me by my first name and until then, will I do what I can to keep meeting her."  
The man nods and then does something I had not expected – something I had hoped wouldn't happen until I had left the meeting – as he turns to his daughter and asks: "Carmelita, mi querida hija, what is your opinion now that you have heard all of this?" And instantly my own eyes turn wide with the fear for the future.

_**Carmelita's POV**_

If there were ever a meeting where nothing went as I had expected it would be the one I am in right here, right now. Cooper hasn't made a single smart remark, he has actually pointed out one of my fatal flaws without really insulting me and he even made an actual confession of love right in front of my own two parents.  
The words the ringtail spoke about his feelings for me were unlike any I had expected as I had been expecting the simple, stupid answer of: "It's fun." Instead the ringtail had swooped me right off my feet with his words and had – indirectly – told me that, were it not for his incarceration, he would actually have allowed me to capture him.  
Now my papa has asked me what my opinion is on all this, on the fact that Cooper has a family going back all the way to before the birth of Christ, that he has a vault filled with all of his family's gold and treasure and that he has actually been harboring romantic feelings for me since the day we met on top of the Paris Opera House.

Of course there were plenty of times where Cooper has complimented me, flirted with me and made me feel special just by the way he gazes at me, but I had always believed it to be his way of evading capture, a skill he had developed to continue his life of a criminal and had never thought – never dared – to see more than that into it.  
Now the Ringtail is gazing at me from across the coffee table, his eyes holding a fear I have never before actually seen in them and I realize with shock that he fears my response to his confession, that he fears for me to break his heart by stating that I hate him, because of his criminal ways and that I hate him for always humiliating me.  
Yet, looking into those brown eyes that are a slightly more brass, wild color than my own, do I suddenly feel stupid for having constantly believed that Cooper's only intention was to humiliate me and make my work look like stupid child's play as those eyes and their fear are imploring me not to hurt the creature before me.

They also, again, remind me of how we had talked, laughed and had enjoyed ourselves beyond words the few times we actually got to simple talking, such as when he had stolen the Venus de Walo and when we had been flying in a rigged helicopter in circles over Paris for hours on end without me even noticing this.  
Remembering all of those times, when Sly would help me, make me enjoy myself or even make me push myself further and allow for me to develop skills my regular job would have never required otherwise, do I suddenly feel my heart beating with a whole new set of emotions and do I allow for them to lead my body.  
I stand up, hating myself for how the pain and fear are now growing in Sly's eyes while trying to keep my inner revelations from showing through my own and slowly, carefully walk over to where the Ringtail is seated, Sly actually cautiously standing up as he sees this and when we are nearly touching nose to nose, do I move.

Move in the only way I know how, move with the speed that I have gained thanks to years of chasing the illustrious raccoon before me and move in the only manner I believe is a proper response to the words of his love that are still ringing through my mind. I move with lightning speed and wrap my arms around him, kissing him full-on.  
Instantly I can hear several distant shouts coming from the backyard, most of them sounding like a shocked _WHAT_, while my mother squeals in utter joy besides me and my father falls back on his couch laughing, but all I can focus on is how amazing those grey-furred lips feel against my own as I kiss the animal of my heart.  
Sly seems shocked and stunned for a second, but it doesn't seem to take the raccoon long before he realizes what I have done and instantly do I feel my waist encased in his arms, one of his elbows leaning on his other arm against my lower back as he uses the hand to touch and caress my hair while he responds to my kiss.  
The way his lips feel to move against my own feels as divine as all the other times where the Ringtail actually managed to slip in a quick peck before his escape and to have those muscular arms that always climb walls and swing a heavy wooden cane wrapped around my waist makes me feel loved, warmed and safely protected.

Then oxygen again becomes a must and apparently does it seem as if Sly has a slightly longer breath than I do as, upon parting his lips from my own, does he huskily whisper: "Mi amore." And just those two words seal the deal for me, making me know I might as well quit my job as arresting Cooper is just no longer an option.  
"Not when I have already captured his heart." Goes through my mind, making me smile softly before Sly steals his usual quick peck on my lips and then releases his hold on me, making me sigh in wanted delight before I decide to reclaim my earlier seat and I return back to sitting on the couch next to my widely smiling father.  
In the mean time does Sly again tap the communicator in his ear and does he actually make me laugh as he asks: "Any of you still conscious enough to answer me?" And while my mother quickly slaps a hand over her mouth to silence her giggling does my father lie his head back as he laughs again and does someone apparently answer Cooper.

"Figures." The Ringtail says and then he whispers: "Bentley and Penelope fainted and Guru actually jumped high enough to end up in a tree, while Panda King almost fell face first into the grass." Making me turn away from the glass doors in order to conceal my own laughter and then papa asks: "And Murray?"  
To this Cooper taps the piece of fur near his ear, indicating that it's the hippo he's communicating with and then he presses it again, actually making me capable of hearing the rough voice of the Hippo as he says: "Congratulations, Sly. Now all we need is entrance to that Cooper Vault and you have all you ever dreamed off, right buddy?"  
And while my mind goes wild with ideas over what could be hidden behind the enclosure of that legendary vault, do I feel that I better keep my job just a little longer, if only to make sure I have my Mercenary apes to help me get Sly to that vault safely and to keep any and all enemies of the Cooper Family away from him.

* * *

_**Good chapter, right?  
**__**Well, next chapter will be on the Cooper Heist with the Vault and most of it will again be Carmelita's POV, with some Sly POV and the entrance of some OC characters, just to prepare you for all of the OC Cooper Characters I plan to depict and install into the Cooper Vault as there is over 3 millennia of Cooper history in there.  
**__**LOVE IT,**_

_**Venquine1990**_


	3. The Heist And The Rescue

_**Hey everyone,  
**__**Chapter three and – well – I decided to do something a little similar to Trust Thy Foe, but then with a different method that Carmelita uses to get Sly access to the Cooper Vault. I know there will be parts you will recognize from that story, but I still tried to make it original but putting a little more depth to Sly getting healed afterwards.  
**__**Hope you enjoy,**_

_**Venquine1990**_

* * *

_**Three weeks later**_

The last three weeks have been hell and at the same time heaven. Cooper hasn't shown himself to me the entire time and it wasn't until I received his postcard with the words _wish you were here_ and a stamp of a boat wrapped up by rose vines that I had stopped believing for the whole meeting with my parents to be on big hoax.  
The same Ringtail had met me only two days after the arrival of his postcard and told me how he had been contacted by Dimitri the morning after our meeting, the Iguana requesting his aid in getting back a family set of Diving gear that had been stolen from the Lousteau family years ago, making him actually gain another team member.  
The story he had told me had made me agree in his wish for me to have been there, but when I had offered my aid, had Sly shaken his head and muttered: "I trust your skills, Carmelita, but a man with that kind of tricky intelligence, I don't trust him not to have used both you and Penelope as bait to get us destroyed."  
To this I had conceded and while I had been very happy to hear that Bentley and Penelope had gotten together had I told the Ringtail that he could jump high or low, I would join him on his caper against Dr. M and I would be there when he opens the door to his Family Vault, Sly smiling and responding that he wouldn't have it any other way.

That was last week and in the time since have I been working my hardest to prepare a case against Dr. M. in case Sly were to come across him in his attempt to reach the vault. I had actually made contact with the Hawaiian division of Interpol and had made some shocking discoveries that led me to disclose certain information.  
Now, with my Mercenary apes with me for protection and the men I had contacted from the Hawaiian Interpol force at my side, all of us carrying several official papers hidden within back pockets and covered up backpacks, am I sailing towards the island where I hope to meet with the Ringtail of my dreams and future.

However, the sight that I meet when getting there makes my blood run cold, my fur turn white and my eyes turn wide as I see a terrible monster standing between a set of mountains, the actual Dr. M. using mechanics to attach himself to the beast and the monster holding my sweet Sly in an obvious strangle hold with his razor sharp claws.  
Instantly I feel my inner Justice Fighter rear up and I shout: "Lieutenant Gronk, get your squad together, we're about to see some action." The Ape salutes me and says: "Yes ma'am. Lock and load, you apes. We're going in." And while all of them boost off on their jetpacks, do I return my gaze to my beloved.  
Sly is screaming silently in pain, his voice drowned by the sound of the jetpacks and the monster's roars and while all of my men shoot at it and Dr. M with all they have, do I suddenly shout: "Keep your target! The monkey and monster are all we need! Keep their victim alive!" As I see on of the shots hit Sly directly.  
The shot actually makes Sly shout out louder than the monster and while it throws my men back and makes them dazed upon their harsh landing, do they instantly rush back into action, doing whatever they can to tire the monster out. I personally stay upon the boat, the distance between the island and the boat too great for me to jump.

Then suddenly does the monster knock one of my men in the large mountain beside me with enough strength the ape actually breaks the mountain in parts and I quickly use these to jump to a higher ground with better aim, not even bothered by how the monster's owner send genetic monsters my way and shooting them on sight.  
The madman seems to realize this effort to be futile and after he knocks another mountain in parts with the unwanted help of one of my men, does he unleash himself from the beast and does he jump onto my platform, instantly going for the insults as he asks me: "You harpy witch! Why are the police invading my home?"  
To which, while the Hawaiian officers I asked to come along join me on the barren mountain, I answer: "I'm here to see that justice is done." The man growls at me while the Siberian tiger that accompanied me smiles at the witty remark and Dr. M. retorts: "Justice? I'm the victim here, defending what's mine from thieves!"

But here my partner named Leo steps in and says: "Only this island isn't yours. It belongs – due to international laws and several debts that the world has yet to repay the Cooper Line – in hands of Sly Cooper, the last of the Cooper line and the man you attempted to murder." This shocks the mandrill before me and he asks:  
"Debts? What are you talking about?" To this my partner and I both take several scrolls out of our backpacks and I read loudly over the rain: "September 7th 1620, Henriette "One Eye" Cooper saves the life of General Farbank from a ferocious attack by a horde of Killer Whales and indebts the island of Maui to the Cooper Line."  
Then my partner reads: "April 22nd 1010. Salim Al Kupar retrieves the Royal Scepter of Sultan Fall Es-Dubai and with this indebts the land of Arabia to the Cooper Line." By now the apes are all wide eyed behind their sunglasses and the mandrill before me is no different as I unroll a different scroll and read loudly:  
"December 24th 1916. Otto Van Cooper uses his entire arsenal of flying machines and contraptions to send several hundred of packages and gifts for Christmas from every country fighting the First World War to their respective soldiers, regardless of his own origins and indebting all of the Western European society to the Cooper Line."  
Then my partner Leo goes on and says: "And those are only three minor examples. There are several dozen more, but I believe you get the picture. The Cooper Vault is in ownership of Sly Cooper and as long as he continues to breath and perform in the family business is no one to stand in his way of his rightful heritage."

And with that do I again aim my shock-pistol at the ape before me and hiss with a hint of dangerous anger in my tone: "Now let him go." And while the mandrill glares at me with the same anger as the one I feel for his attempt to kill Sly, does he still snap his fingers, making the monster release his strangle hold.  
However, it seems that the hold has been too strong for Sly to maintain for this amount of time and to my despair does the grey-furred animal limply roll out of the open grasp, landing like a sack of potatoes on the feet of one of my mercenary apes and when the gorilla looks at me with a dumb-founded look, do I snap:  
"Return him to the Cooper Gang boat at once and provide any form of medical aid required. Sly Cooper is entering that vault and he will enter it tonight. Lieutenant Gronk, send word for a mechanic, I need someone to retrieve Cooper's cane seeing I didn't see it on him when he rolled out of that monster's grasp!"  
The gorilla salutes me and while the man that had Sly lying at his feet gently lifts the creature up and flies off, do I turn to Leo Grador, the tiger that made this all possible for me and whisper: "Thank you." The tiger saluting me before he says: "I'll make sure Gronk sends word to Miami, that way Cooper gets aid the fastest."

At this I nod and then turn a ferocious glare at the mumbling mandrill beside me as I spat: "Dr. M. we of Interpol have all rights and reasons to arrest you on the spot if only for your attempt of murder this evening. If we see you make any more attempt to harm anyone present here today, I will not hesitate to shock and arrest you."  
The mandrill glares at me, yet I don't allow for this to faze me and jump away, making many jumps over the mountains of the island and actually finding the boat I seek, signing for the ape holding Sly to come over. The Gang all leaves the boat as they see me and when I land before them, do I turn to Bentley and say:  
"My men will stay with Sly until Lieutenant Gronk and Leo Grador have retrieved a mechanic and someone with medical specialty. We of Interpol will help the Cooper gang gain entrance to the Cooper Vault, if only to repay one of the many debts the world still owes the Cooper Line. May we come aboard, Bentley?"  
And while the group looks shocked at hearing that the world actually owes the Cooper Gang, does Bentley nod and does he and his team lead me and General Turk onto their ship, going with us when we go below deck and helping us reach Sly's chamber, where the general gently lies the fainted raccoon on his bed.

"You saved his life." Bentley then murmurs while the general leaves, but I shake my head and say: "One of my men shot Sly while attacking the monster. I'm as much to blame for his current state as Dr. M." The turtle shakes his head and says: "The apes only shot Sly once and only before you ordered them not to.  
You saved Sly's life and with that – if so possible – repaid a debt that France has to the Cooper Line – if such a debt exists that is." To this I nod and say: "It does, partially. Otto van Cooper risked his life to fly between enemy fire and deliver Christmas gifts to soldiers of all countries during the winter of nineteen-sixteen."  
At this Bentley lets out a soft wow and a few minutes later does Murray stick his head around the door as he says: "Inspector? There are two men at our boat that want to see Sly. They say someone named Leo send them your way?" At this I nod and say: "Just let them in, Murray, they must be the healers I asked for."

The Hippo nods and a few minutes later do a white thick-furred cat and a antelope walk into the room, the female antelope gasping in shock when they see Sly and instantly reaching into her red bag of medical supplies as she rushes for the Ringtail, her partner only a step behind her and helping her grab her supplies.  
The two seem to work valiantly and while their frantic actions worry me, do I keep strong with the thought that Cooper has survived worse than this and indeed my thoughts are rewarded only ten minutes later when a painful groan escapes the raccoon's lips, making his healers back off and urging me to approach.

_**Sly's POV**_

The last I remember is being hit with something that feels remarkably like Carmelita's Shock-pistol, but then with triple the amount of power and together with the crushing hold the monster had on me, did this become too much and while the thought of: "She knows I love her." Faded from my mind, did I lose myself to the darkness.  
To then wake with the sight of my beloved vixen besides my bed and with a very pretty antelope and powerful looking furry white cat standing behind her was not something I had expected as I had been sure that – upon opening my eyes – I would be greeted by whatever place my father had been send to upon his own death.  
Still, to see my beloved inspector with relief and love staring at me as she asks: "Sly, how – how are you feeling?" And only then does my body decide to connect back with my nerve system and my brain, making me feel every bit of the pain I had succumbed to earlier, causing me to groan and squeeze my eyes shut in pain.

Instantly the two behind Carmelita seem to rush into action as I can feel their hands moving over my body, examining where the pain is located and helping me raise my head as they push a bottle of fluid against my lips, making me drink whatever beverage they have within it down and almost coughing as the liquid burns down my throat.  
I sit up a little straighter and lie my hand against my lips to keep from either coughing or retching – whichever comes first – and when I feel the liquid settling within my organs, which I am sure are quite bruised thanks to the painful grip, do I ask the only question that is currently on my mind: "Where's my cane?"  
At this Carmelita grabs my hand and whispers softly: "Interpol is sending a mechanic to help you retrieve it, Sly. And we're also helping you get to your vault. We told Dr. M. exactly where he stands and where you stand and he knows that if he makes one more hurtful move to anyone on the island, he will be arrested on sight."

This makes my head spin as I had not expected for my beloved vixen to be able to convince a powerful justice force such as Interpol to be willingly helping a gang like my own and I ask: "Interpol – wants to help?" Carmelita nods and Bentley says: "Apparently the world owes the Cooper line a few debts, Sly."  
This makes my look at my friend before Carmelita distracts me again and pulls out several scrolls as she says: "One of the ways Interpol is repaying the Cooper Line is by keeping an eye on both the Cooper Vault and several important documents of Cooper history, which include a full report on every cause that made the world indebted to your line."  
And while she gently lies the scrolls on my lap, do I look at them with eyes that are wide as saucers, having never known that information about my family like this existed and whisper: "But – but there has – there has never been anything about these debts in the Thievius Raccoonus." Before I look at Bentley and ask:  
"Has there?" The turtle shrugs and with a simple head motion do I silently order my brother to get the family manual, Bentley smiling before he rolls his wheelchair out of my room. Then the cat speaks up and says: "Mr. Cooper, I suggest you stay in that bed for another half hour and then take this drink a second time.  
After that you should be good to go, as long as you make sure not to strain your muscles or hit yourself on the head. You have a nasty concussion and another blow can either cause eternal brain damage or make you forget even your own name. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Cooper?" And while wondering who he is, do I nod.

The cat and antelope then also leave my room and a few minutes after they have left, does Bentley return, the Thievius Raccoonus on his lap and while he sends a short worried glance at Carmelita, do I reach for my family's handbook nonetheless, opening it and asking: "Any particular time where the world became indebted to my family?"  
"Try 1916, winter Time. According to what I found did your ancestor, Otto van Cooper, use his own mechanics to send Christmas gifts to all the soldiers fighting in the first world war, regardless of which side they fought on or that he himself was born in Holland." Carmelita tells me and with proud interest do I flip through.  
Finding the pages of my Dutch ancestor, am I amazed to read a section I had actually overlooked when designing the Cooper Van for our adventure against Clockwerk and while slightly having trouble with some of the German words, does the segment written prove that my beloved is indeed correct about my ancestor's actions.

"Any other?" Carmelita nods and says: "Try the very beginning of last century. Salim el Kupar retrieved a stolen artifact belonging to the Royal Sultan and with that saved the empire as there was apparently a large and important feast planned soon after Salim returned the treasure, one where the Sultan was to present said stolen goods."  
At this I instantly page back in the book, going over several other segments of my ancestors and finding the piece of information that Carmelita is talking about, my eyes wide as I read how this was Salim's very last caper, the last heist he pulled before the Sultan promised him a safe retirement without him having to fear being arrested.  
Amazed to actually read evidence of how my family not just stole from other criminals, but also helped powerful forces in the World's history, do I read how, had Salim not recovered this bit of treasure, the sultan would have been considered a coward and traitor by the visiting country, who would have declared war if needed.

"My ancestor prevented a war between Arabia and India. A war that the Sultan feared would cost him his entire army and several of his villages and towns as he was still expanding the amount of people in his army in order to sufficiently provide proper protection and guardianship of his guards to all the people in his country."  
I then read out loud, having read this part of the Raccoonus with great awe and Bentley whistles before Murray looks around the frame of my door and says: "Sly, you're awake! Good, listen buddy, there's 3 peeps here who say they want to help you retrieve your cane. But the problem is Master Guru and Dimitri are already on it, you know."  
At this I look at Carmelita and the fox says: "Just tell my men to stand by and offer their aid where necessary. If there is any damage done to the cane by either M. or one of his monsters, tell them to fix it before returning it to Sly. Is that okay with you, Murray?" My pink buddy nods and smiles before he vanishes again.  
I in the mean time smile at the love of my life and say: "I knew I could leave the gang in your hands if needed." Bentley and Carmelita look at me in shock and I say: "If a Cooper Leader is unable to handle the required actions that befall him as leader, it is the job of the Cooper Lady to lead the team in whatever mission or caper available."

The two look at each other and I page through the THievius Raccoonus again, stopping at Sir Galleth's part and showing them a segment that has the same sentence written in it as I say: "See, it's been a tradition of my family for the last 700 years. Ever since Sir Galleth Cooper formed the Cooper Order and found love with one of his men."  
The two look at the section in shock and read of how Sir Galleth actually had a female lynx for his Second in Command, one who saved his life from an Enemy attack in 1312 and who was after this rewarded with the title of Cooper Lady and a golden ring that Galleth had actually forged himself days after his rescue.  
Carmelita gets wide eyes with wonder shining in their honey-brown color, while Bentley adjusts his glasses with amazement and then I say: "Galleth was definitely a revolutionary man, allowing for a female to be in charge where needed when in that era females weren't exactly respected for their actual strengths and talents."  
And while I mentally add: "To put matters softly." Do I still smile in pride and Carmelita whistles appreciatively before I suddenly feel the liquid that had been poured down my throat give me an energy boost before it retreats just as quick and I realize with fatigue settling in that my half hour of rest must have passed.

I quickly, but sloppily reach for the bottle and while Carmelita sees this and quickly aids me by grabbing the bottle with her hand and encasing my own, do I take the liquid a second time, keeping a hand before my mouth as the burning sensation actually increases in strength, making me want to retch like no other.  
Taking deep breaths to control my warring stomach and lunges, do I feel the energy settling back in, allowing for me to swiftly jump out of my bed and start to stretch, the second dose of liquid heading straight for my tensely painful muscles and relaxing them as they reach while I stretch, making me feel better with every move.  
Then, after a quick summersault to see if all my muscles are back under my own control, do I take a relieved breath and turn to a wide smiling fox and turtle as I ask: "Ready to go see if they have my cane yet?" And the two nod, leading me back outside and over to the deck, where I am a little surprised to see several mercenary apes.

Then Dimitri jumps out of the water and instantly he causes for a wide smile to stretch over my face as he shouts: "Who is Mr. Magnificento!" While holding my family cane high above his head with both of his wet hands. But then, while the apes applaud his action, does Penelope walk over and does she sternly say:  
"Okay hotshot, good work. Now give that cane back to Sly before these apes believe you to be the thief." And the iguana instantly makes a dash my way, pressing the cane into my hands as he says: "No, no! Me no thief! See, me Cooper Gang member, working for my main man, yes? You see? Yes?" He ends in fright.  
At this I smile and with my trusted cane back in my hand, do I salute the man, Dimitri regaining his confidence and happiness as he salutes me back and I say: "Good job, Dimitri. Why don't you go enjoy that Diving gear of yours with a little celebratory round around the island while my brothers and I go open the vault?"  
The Iguana nods and jumps backwards, diving straight in while putting his mouth piece back in his mouth and while Bentley says: "Good thinking there, Sly, but Guru helped as well. How do you plan to repay him for his services?" And I answer: "I'm sure I'll be able to find something in the Cooper Vault that he will like to have."

The little koala looks at me shocked, but I shrug and say: "You might need it, you know, to rebuild your home from the damage those miners have caused it." The Koala nods and I think: "That and you got Murray back on his feet when he was feeling down about himself over things that weren't even really his fault."  
But while I have no intentions of bringing this up, do I look at Panda King and Penelope as I ask: "Either of you care for something from my family's ancestry? As long as I accept the item chosen, you should be considered allowed to own it." The two look shocked, but I think: "They both risked their lives against M., that deserves a reward."  
And while I have no doubt, thanks to the large smile on Bentley's face, that my little buddy is onto my thought process, does the Panda King bow to me and say: "I wish only for your acceptance that I may procure a ring worthy of my daughter were she ever to find a suitor I find acceptable to be part of her life and future."  
And while the mention of Jing King again makes Bentley gulp in fear, do I not allow for my anger to reign up a second time as I turn away from the beast and say: "Just accept that I won't allow a ring described in the Thievius Raccoonus as important and we have a deal." The Panda bows a second time and Penelope hums as she says:

"I wouldn't mind having a peak at your vault, but I doubt there will be anything in there that I care for." To this I look at Bentley and he asks: "Not even blueprints to various machines and devices created by a Cooper himself?" The girl looks shocked and I say: "My Ancestor Otto was a mechanical expert, no doubt his work will interest you."  
At this an excited smile crosses the face of the mouse and she asks: "Why didn't you say so before? Can I have a look at them? Maybe – well, if you don't mind – take one? See if I can make what is described on them?" To this I can't help but laugh at how excited the little white-furred mouse sounds and say:  
"As long as you promise to return the papers to me after working on them and promise to make new ones if you find anything faulty with them. They are original Cooper Blueprints and I like to keep them that way." The mouse nods, her whole face alight with excitement and then I turn to the one most important and ask:

"And what about you, my sweet? You feel like accepting a hereditary gift from my ancestry for your help in getting me to my rightful inheritance?" The fox has wide eyes and while I can hear one of the mercenary apes whisper: "Are we sure this guy is really a thief? He sounds as if he's stealing from himself here."  
Do I turn fully to Carmelita as I grasp her hand softly within my own and gaze deep into her lovable brown eyes as I whisper: "Anything in there that is mine is yours by right, my darling. I wish not to keep anything from you that my family has left for me to use as I see fit. And my only desire now is to use it for your happiness and future."  
At this some small smiles appear on the faces of the apes and a large one appears on Carmelita's as she uses her free hand to touch the fur on my cheek and whisper: "Just being in that vault will do, Sly. Just being there with you will do." To which I pull her close, thanking her the only way I see fit, with a loving kiss.

* * *

_**And the end!  
**__**Of the chapter! Hope you liked how I adapted the story and how I – like in Trust Thy Foe – let Carmelita be the one to save Sly, even if his thought process while being crushed by that monster wasn't written out in his POV, but was still mentioned later and hopefully, wasn't too similar to what I wrote out in Trust Thy Foe.  
**__**Next chapter will be HELLA long as I am a serious History freak and the Cooper line existing for over 3 millennia makes someone like me have a gold mine of history to look up to and to twist into the cannon tale. I did have to alter the chapter a few times during the writing, but I am still very proud of the end result.  
**__**Enjoy both chapters,**_

_**Venquine1990**_


	4. The Inside Of The Vault

_**Hey everyone,  
**__**This chapter will be – as promised – longer than any other before it and will consist of one part in past tense writing and one part present tense. I had some trouble putting the right parts in the right tenses, so if you find present tenses in the past parts, please let me know. I will mention some of the ancestors from Sly 3, but not all.  
**__**Enjoy.**_

_**PS. WARNING OC NAMES MIGHT NOT ALWAYS SOUND ORIGINAL!**_

* * *

_**Sly's POV**_

The challenges that are stationed around all of the small islands showing off some of my ancestors are unlike any I have ever seen and the things I can both read off of the cards shown below their portraits and their respective pages in the Thievius Raccoonus has everyone who joined me on this trip in awe and amazement.  
In the start I had almost been afraid that my team couldn't join me on this memorial trip as the first path to from the entrance room to the Vault itself had been blocked in such a way only a Cooper could pass on, yet Carmelita had proven her amazing worth, shouting at the Mercenary apes to throw down a whole set of jetpacks.  
Murray and Panda King had both put one on and Penelope had installed on as extra booster to Bentley's wheelchair. Murray had then taken Guru and Bentley had taken Penelope and while the whole gang crossed the rope, had I stopped Carmelita from doing the same, instead showing her the Rope walk technique in the Raccoonus.  
The fox had been shocked that I was willing to share a family technique with her, but I had assured her that this was how I desired for her to join me on this journey through my Ancestral Vault and while the fox had been slightly hesitant seeing the actual ravine stationed under the rope, had she managed the technique on the first try.

It had made everyone applaud the vixen and while I had slightly startled her, had I happily jumped onto the rope after her and taken her hand as we crossed the rope, everyone laughing softly as I commented on how it could possibly be dark within my Ancestral Vault – after the actual doors had closed on us.

The first ancestor we had come across had been Slytunkhamen the Second, his canes being smaller than mine and being in the shape of Sickle Swords and while the sarcophagus besides his hieroglyphic picture had slightly crept Penelope out, had Bentley proven his worth as her boyfriend by pulling her close upon noticing this.  
After this we had been faced with a new set of challenges that, required for the gang to use the jet-packs, only this time did I allow for Guru and Penelope to also learn alongside Carmelita, explaining how I would do the same with Murray and Bentley only their size and state were making them incapable of learning said techniques.  
I had promised both of them I would find a technique I could teach them before we would reach the inner sanctum, but both had only smiled at me and had told me how they understood and how honored they felt that I was willing to share this ancestral knowledge with non-Coopers in the first place, making me smile back.

Then, upon seeing how Guru had his walking stick, yet Carmelita had nothing to pass the golden hooks hanging from the ceiling, had I bowed before the picture of Slytunkhamen and whispered a begging plea to my Ancestor, requesting his permission for Carmelita to use his cane to pass the challenges ahead.  
A warm sense of respect and honor had filled me from the inside, making me feel as if I am back in the Happy Camper Orphanage on the few nights where Bentley, Murray and I would crawl under the same blanket and make all kind of plans for heists to pull before falling asleep under that same blanket, Murray hugging us both.  
I had smiled at feeling this and had taken the two canes, presenting them to Carmelita and telling her how Slytunkhamen had given me his blessing for her to use these as else she would be unable to pass along the golden hooks. Carmelita had been shocked, yet her usage of the short canes had made me proud to be hers by destiny.

The second Ancestor we had come across was Shao Cooper, an Ancient Chinese Raccoon that was actually female and had made name by sneaking alongside the Chinese Armies whenever they went to patrol the Great Chinese Wall against opposing enemies. The treasures in her sanction proved that she had stolen from many different tribes.  
"And then to think that it took the famous Hua Mulan before the Chinese actually started respecting women. She wasn't born for another 900 years and already the Coopers were proving to be an upstanding family with revolutionary ideas if they really let their female members go along on the heists like that."  
Panda King had regally spoken as we read about the female Cooper, who looked very beautiful in her painting, but who also had hints of camouflaging armor hidden quite well under her white and red colored kimono and I had felt highly proud of my family to gain a praise to them from the Powerhouse of China like that.

The next Cooper had come as a shock and had made me reopen the Thievius Raccoonus with lightning speed as all of my traveling comrades had recognized the actual man depicted in the portrait, while in the shadows a hidden image of my ancestor was shown, his moves proving he had been silently following the main character.  
"Alexander the Great. The actual ruler of all of Asia. How is it he's depicted here, in the Cooper Vault?" Carmelita had muttered in awe and I had found the page of the depicted Cooper, who was aptly named Shadedia Cooper, a thief that took advantage of his leader's needs of World conquest to steal all over the Asian lands.

"Apparently he constantly traveled through the shadows, making often use of Slytunkhamen's Invisibility technique and always made sure to be one day of traveling ahead of his conquering leader. That way he didn't get caught, got to steal whatever he desired and even, when feeling like it, stole items required for the enemy to win.  
He actually helped Alexander reach as far as he did. Over 16 of Alexander's conquests were due to Shadedia having stolen certain equipment of enemy forces. And, according to the Thievius Raccoonus, did he leave all of his treasure within the Vault as his daughter's life was the only thing he desired upon his death bed.  
His death bed was also the start of the Roman Empire and because they were a new and unknown powerhouse, did Shadedia get his daughter to agree that she would serve the Roman Empire if only to continue the Cooper line. He did tell her how to access the Cooper vault, but she never went in there, keeping her father's treasures safe."

I had commented out loud as I read the sections of both Shadedia and his daughter Alexandra and while everyone looked at me shocked, had I only looked around at everything my ancestor stole from the Asian country, both large piles of gold and treasure as well as several different sets of armor and weaponry stacked all around us.  
My next ancestor had been a Greek one, one who was depicted with several symbols of Hermes and who, according to his calling card, was considered the Son of Hermes due to his incredible speed and stealth when stealing from those who believed themselves above the Gods or who believed they could use the Gods for their own benefits.  
I had been amazed at reading about how this one single Cooper had actually – as the only one of my family – overcome his fear for water on his travels between the many islands of Greece and how, on the month of his passing, he had actually felt summoned to Olympia, where he lay himself to die at the foot of Mount Olympus.  
"I know that it's only hearsay that Gods had bonds with mortals, but could it be that my ancestors somehow got a Divine blessing upon Alveolus' birth? Could it be that Poseidon and Hermes blessed him and that that is where he got his speed and ability of surviving water from?" I had asked and most of my gang had agreed.

The next Cooper depiction had been of one in a Gladiator outfit, but who also wore a crown of leafs on his head and I had again opened the Thievius Raccoonus, explaining how my ancestor Romulus Cooper _**(hp hint here, get it?)**_ had been given this crown by his family upon his death due to his amazing ability of living a double life.  
Everyone had been confused and I had read how, at day time Romulus was a gladiator, constantly using parts of certain Cooper techniques to remain alive, yet at the same time not using the full powers in order to keep others from recognizing his line. Yet at night, he would steal from the rich and give to the families of the deceased.  
This had made many look at my ancestor in awed wonder and I whisper: "He could have died in the arena years before he made a family and still he worked his hardest, both to provide for the family he got to have and for those whose loved ones he was forced to kill in battle just to keep up the farce of his job to the people."

At this I had shaken my head and with the desire to make people like him proud had we moved on. The next Cooper had been enough of a shock for us that we had all staggered and sat down, Bentley's wheelchair actually slipping where it landed as we saw how this piece of the Cooper Vault had been decorated, so to say.  
Chains, whips and several contracts describing slavery were hung all around the small island and several of the chains and whips actually had some dried up blood on them, making both Murray and Penelope feel ill and making me ask Guru to mask this with his ability until we had passed this section of the vault.  
I had quickly read off the calling card depicting my ancestor, Sjaun Raya Kupar, and while feeling proud of how my ancestor had actually fooled his masters by openly stealing from them and their guests during parties, driving them to sell him on, had I been horrified to know that – upon one era of time – my family had been enslaved.

All of us had left this part of the Vault as quickly as we could and the next Cooper had been a pleasant surprise that kind of reminded us of Shadedia as this one had done the same as his ancestor, this time using the power of Charlemagne Cooper to steal from any and every country that terrorized the French borders during the Emperor's reign.  
The way my ancestor described how he never had a home and how he had actually met a wife that loved travelling as much as him, an actual runaway gypsy, had made me feel warm and comfortable again after reading about his 250 year old ancestor, yet the idea of never having a home to go to had not been I could agree with.  
Carmelita had been relieved to hear this and it had actually allowed me to get some of my old charm back, making me wrap my arms around her waist as I had muttered: "No, I want to come home to you and only you. Whether I'm just hanging with the guys or pulling a heist or even making another visit to this vault. You're my home."

The Fox had thanked me for these words with a kiss and the others with a grateful nod before we had passed on, coming face to face with a picture of Salim El-Kupar's grandfather, who had lived on the border between the African Wildlands and the Arabian deserts and who's son had actually settled within Arabia after his death.  
The idea that my family had lived in different parts of Africa for three centuries had been a shocking one, but after I had realized and voiced this, had Guru actually pointed me to a small cave he suddenly noticed stationed on the far right to the island depicting Salim El-Kupar himself, igniting my curiosity upon seeing it.  
Reaching the cave had not been easy, yet upon getting in, I had found only two things; one of which shocked me senseless. A set of rings that had an Arabian symbol for Fox and Raccoon on each of the rings, the two intertwined like Yin and Yang and another one of Salim's canes alongside a very fancy set of thieving robes.

I had quickly opened the Thievius Raccoonus and had found some kind of section that was written in such light ink I had mistaken it for a blank page before. I had read about the rings, how they had been blessed to Salim upon his wedding and how they had represented his bond with his wife until her death, upon which he brought them here.  
At reading this had I decided to leave everything where I found it, the rings feeling like I just don't deserve to take them yet, the outfit depicted in the Raccoonus as Salim's actual outfit as a young thief and the cane's gem, which was a large red ruby, making me feel as if there was a magic within I was not yet ready to try out and use.

Everyone had asked me if I had found anything and I had answered: "A part of my heritage to which I have yet to prove my worth, nothing more." The gang had understood and all of them had put smiles on their faces that proved me they believed I would one day return to that section of the vault, to finally claim those items.  
I had been grateful for their understanding, especially Carmelita as she was really taking to my family vault, yet had after this reached the island on which we had found a segment depicting a Cooper that was carrying several bags, all of them looking very old, but with specks of gold showing at places where the bags were torn.  
I had opened the Thievius Raccoonus and read about Andreas Cooper, who served King Richard Lionheart and who stole from whatever opposing country they passed as he crusaded from England all the way to Akko in Israel, where the family stayed until the final crusade ended in 1272 and when the Coopers returned home with their King.

Everyone had been amazed to hear some of the tales I was able to dig up from the Thievius Raccoonus and after this, we had not met another Crusader Cooper, yet had stumbled upon one who actually sat with King Arthur himself, the round table very clear in the picture and with a cane hanging from one of the chairs.  
Instantly I had opened the Thievius Raccoonus yet again and read how, because the Coopers had left great ownership of lands to the crown before their departure, King Arthur had given this land back to the Coopers and had accepted the Cooper – who had become orphaned during his travel home – into his circle.  
My own eyes had been wide as I had read how Arthur had taught my ancestor how to use his cane as a sword as well as a cane and I had whispered: "This is how sir Galleth became the knight that he was. He learned from his father what his father had learned from Arthur. That must have inspired him to found the Cooper Order."

Everyone had been amazed that King Arthur was actually real and I had loved finding the amazing shield, lance like cane and picture of Sir Galleth Cooper, who had founded the Cooper Order and who was actually the being of historical events that writers such as Walt Disney and others later based their Robin Hood fairytales on.  
Everyone had been amazed that my ancestor's order of Honorable Thieves had later been changed into the tales of an actual fox who stole from the rich and gave to the poor and while I had to admit that only the last part wasn't exactly true, was I still unable to hide my pride that such a story had come from my ancestral history.

Carmelita had been amused that my family's ancestor had – as an imaginary character – been changed from a Raccoon to a Fox, yet I had made her speechless as I had asked why he shouldn't have been before complimenting her and moving on, everyone knowing thanks to the smile on my face that I had not meant to be insulting, only jesting.  
Galleth's trials to get to Slaigh's had also shown me something else, namely that – over time – my other ancestors seem to have tweaked and worked on the challenges of their own ancestors as the thin bars with heavy stone wheels rolling down them had Slaigh's signature powers and abilities written all over the thing.  
Again the others had used the jetpacks and again Carmelita had learned a new Cooper Technique, allowing her to walk along the bar and actually jump from the one on the left to the one on the right with lightning speed whenever one of these stone wheels were to approach her, making us both end up on the other side safely.

To then find out that Slaigh MacCooper, the actual Scottish fighter who was known as the Strongest of all the Cooper Line and had fought in the Hundred Year war, had only arrived in Scotland because he, as a child, preferred to make use of his own physical strength over the aid of the Cooper Order was quite astounding.  
I had felt greatly bad for both father and son and while I have no doubt that Slaigh must have made Galleth proud by how he took advantage of the battles against France by raiding whatever battlefield he fought in after a fight, do I feel confident that my team and I – if necessary – could leave to wherever I would raise my own offspring.  
This had made an image of me, Carmelita and several small Raccoons and foxes living in a beautiful house together, the house surrounded by a beautiful grass and flower covered garden with large trees surrounding the perimeters of the yard appear in my mind and I had felt my heart beat with the need to make this image reality.

However, being in the Cooper vault makes it a little hard for me to think of the future when so many amazing pieces of my family's history and past are shown to my face whenever my friends and I overcome a new challenge and after Slaigh's second challenge had I found a new reason to be distracted from this.  
Everyone had been greatly amazed and slightly frightened by the war hammers that clashed against the wall up and down and while almost everyone had used the jetpacks to get up, had Carmelita proven me her worth, telling me in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't let me pass through such a violate challenge by myself.  
I had shown her how I was able to sneak against the wall and while she had taken a little more time to get used to this, had we both been very careful, Carmelita not moving an inch until I had passed another hammer and her arriving at the platform and climbing bar leading to a higher floor only a few minutes after me.  
There I had held her, having felt feared for her life as I had seen her pass the hammers and Carmelita had happily wrapped her arms around me to prove me she was still okay when suddenly something glinted in my eye and made me look at the pile of gold on the right of the platform, the gold reaching to the top of the challenge.

Carmelita had gazed into the pile as well and it had taken us a few minutes before we both realized that we were looking at the same thing, Carmelita actually being the one to make the jump to the island that held the pile and picking out a beautiful but simple golden ring with a row of transparent crystals running through the middle.  
She had jumped back and while gazing at the ring hadn't made me feel anything special had I been assured that my prize for Panda King and his daughter had been found. At this I had smiled at Carmelita and we had taken to the rest of the challenge together, constantly holding each other at the end of a floor before moving on.

Panda King had been greatly honored to receive the ring and while I had checked the Raccoonus to make sure it wasn't an heirloom, had Slaigh only written about the ring as one of his many treasures from after combat, writing about the ring itself as if he were writing about a wooden statue or a painting made by a child.  
Panda King had accepted this fact and had felt grateful as he had not wanted to break his promise of taking anything that was valuable to my line. After this had we found several small islands that were stationed quite close to each other, proving that this was a whole line of direct descendants, who obviously lived in different eras of time.

The first island with a picture showed a Cooper with a feathered hat, a blue robe reaching down to the knees, a shirt with the same length under this and who wore knee length boots, Carmelita recognizing the figure as a Renaissance Cooper, which had shocked me as the Raccoon had a lot of traits similar to Slaigh MacCooper.  
I had read about the Cooper and discovered that he was indeed a direct descendant, the great-great grandson of Slaigh, but that Slaigh's strength had never been able to be passed on to his heirs and that this was the reason why Reginald Cooper found himself much stronger attracted to the beauty and sophistication of the Renaissance.  
Then I had made the discovery I had never expected and read out loud: _"It is truly astounding, but I am not the last of the Cooper Line. A Raccoon with similar traits to my own, yet with a much darker tone of fur and skin color, has been located upon the eastern parts of India by the Great Columbus and I must find her_._"  
_Everyone had been shocked to hear this segment and I whisper: "There – there must have – must have been a split in my Ancient lineage. There must be a Cooper that had more than one child and the – the kids must have gone their separate ways, continuing the line on separate parts of the world. It's – it's just not written in the Raccoonus."

We had traveled on from this, finding the picture of my other ancestor, the one Reginald mentioned in his part of the book and while I had been shocked at how native and powerful my ancestor looked, had everyone recognized the being as a Cooper and had I been happy to read how happy the two Coopers made each other.  
Everyone had been shocked that one of my ancestors bonded with another one, but I had shaken my head and said: "The line had been separated for many generations, there would have been no chance of inbreeding. That, and such bonds were pretty much the norm during that era." To which everyone had agreed.  
Upon reaching the third Island, had I been amazed and slightly amused to see a different kind of Native Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus told me how this one, the child of the earlier bond, had traveled south, finding his home in the Inca Culture and fighting and dying upon the hands of the Spanish Conquistadors.  
Everyone had been shocked to hear this, yet the Inca Cooper had persevered, bonding with a Spanish fighter who had traveled along to the country upon which my ancestor lived and hiding herself after the death of her beloved, discovering herself pregnant three months later and taking the child back to her own native homeland.

It had been a harsh blow for me to hear this sad yet romantic tale and Carmelita had noticed this the first, hugging me and whispering how amazed she was at how my family was so well-capable of adapting itself to whatever new era of time broke out in their faces, making me smile at her gratefully before we moved on.  
Finding Riochi's segment had been a real pleasure for me and I had happily explained them how his technique – the Ninja Spiral Jump – was the first I had ever perfected and how, even at a young age, Riochi had been my favorite ancestor and story time person as my dad had always made my ancestral adventures into kiddy stories.

Everyone had been honored to hear about this and while it had been hard for Murray and Panda King to safely get past the knives that stuck out and drew back in only to strike out again, had Bentley made very clever use of his jetpack to navigate through the challenge and had Penelope, Guru and Carmelita stayed behind to learn the technique.  
I had used only the first constantly retracting and attacking knife to show them the move and Guru had been the first to manage it, yet Penelope had gotten cold feet near the end part and Guru had come back to control her mind and give her the courage needed to pass on, Penelope ending up in Bentley's arms afterwards.

I had felt bad to scare my Gang partner like that, but had after this focused on Carmelita, making sure she used her eyes before she used her reflexes as the trick was to wait until she had seen the knife ahead of her disappear before jumping as that would allow her to land on the knife just when it struck out again.  
Carmelita had performed miraculously and had thanked me for the reminders and the hint with a small peck to the cheek, but after we had passed the golden hooks dangling from the roof, had I again noticed something off to the left of the wooden platform; another set of hooks dangling from an upturned piece of rock.  
I had used my paraglider and cane to reach the hooks and had been rewarded with a single treasure chest that had Riochi's picture carved into the wood. Using my cane to open the chest, had I found a note, a suit and a dress and upon reading the note had my eyes widened as the suit had been worn by Riochi the day his son was born.

The dress on the other hand had been his wife's favorite and under all of this were three knives that Riochi had always used to make the finest of Sushi. I had used the suit to wrap up the knives and had put it all under my shirt to keep it safe, closing the chest and carving into wood a promise I would handle it all with respect and care.  
I had then used the hooks a second time and while dangling from the second one had Bentley used his grapple cam to pull me back up before we had passed on, finding out how Henriette "One Eye" Cooper was actually the daughter of Riochi and who was given her own handmade ship by her father upon her sixteenth birthday.  
The fact that Riochi had made a boat all by himself had not been surprising to me as I had always known that Riochi had made the entire restaurant in which he made his sushi by his own two hands as well and yet, at the same time, had I been very happy to read how Henriette had returned home days before her own passing.

We had saluted in her honor before moving on, wishing to pass Henriette's obstacles made out of several platforms with small tunnels that allowed us to hide from the small overturned boats that had flaming skulls on a pulley system, the lights burning the touch, but the tunnels also proving a problem I had not been happy with.  
Both Panda King and Murray as well as Bentley's wheelchair had been too big to pass through the small wooden tunnels and while Panda King had been honored to find his daughter's ring and Murray had admitted how awesome he found all of the challenges we had passed, had Penelope and Dimitri promised to help Bentley pass.  
It had hurt me emotionally to leave part of my crew behind, yet Carmelita had helped me do so, motivating me to pass through the entire obstacle course, through which Bentley passed by pulling himself into his shell and actually turning it so that he moved forward as his shell spun on the floor in endless circles.

We had all been amazed and proud to see the crippled little turtle move with such speed and Penelope had assured me she would make sure that Bentley didn't move his shell in the wrong directions before she helped my little friend pass from one tunnel to the next, her own rodent body making it easy for her to crawl through the tunnels.  
Guru had gone next, his small form making him walk through the tunnels instead of crawling and Carmelita had been right behind me as we passed through the tunnels, evaded the burning light and jumped the two platforms over to the next section of the Vault, which we had found after sliding down a single still sturdy-looking rope.

Here I had found another ancestor I had been shocked to meet as he was actually portrayed to stand next to a member of royalty, his hands behind his back and a piece of a golden statue hidden from the eyes of the royal, which the card described as Joseph Bonaparte, the actual brother of the famous Napoleon Bonaparte.  
Reading the description on the plague and then the one written in the Raccoonus, had I felt new pride soar through my heart as my ancestor, Jacques Cooper, had fought alongside Joseph until he had been named King of Spain and had afterwards continued to use his bond of loyalty to steal from the actual Spanish King for years on end.

The next Cooper we had found had amazed everyone as his entire island was filled to the brim with both incredible pieces of treasure as well as painting easels and other equipment for crafting and painting and the shock had settled in the strongest when we discovered that this island belonged to Vincent van Gogh – Cooper.  
My ancestor, while born in America, had the same admiration for Riochi Cooper as I have and wanted to prove his worth to his ancestor. Because of this did he travel to Holland and did he become the famous artist, using the actual alias as a way to sell his paintings but never be suspected of the heists on the houses of his buyers.  
I had been amazed, honored and proud beyond words as I read what kind of techniques my ancestor had used to see this happen and while – to the knowledge of the world – my ancestor had only sold perhaps 1 or 2 masterpieces, had there actually been over 3 dozen painting owners who suddenly found their treasures stolen.

Then the greatest shock so far had hit me as I read how after marrying a woman with a taste for the wildlife, he actually fathered Tennessee Kid Cooper, who inherited his mother's vital spirit, making his father send them both back to America before he faked to commit suicide in order to also return home to his native country.  
There Vincent took the name Vinny and started teaching Tennessee how to handle a gun at the age of 13 and did he even partake in some of Tennessee's first heist, unfortunately dying during one of these heists and, through his death, inspiring his son to become known as the Greatest Outlaw of the Wild West, giving birth to The Kid.  
This story had touched almost all of my heartstrings and had made me more excited for what was yet to come, but before we passed on, had Bentley, who wanted to travel onward using his new form of traveling, noticed something shining under the minecart that was stationed to the left of Tennessee's own wanted photo.

I had dug under the minecart myself and found a small bag of gold that had a card inside upon which was written _my old man's last heist_, words that made tears appear in my eyes and that made me put the pouch right back as I felt it wrong to take such a valuable piece of family treasure away from what was left of my Wild West Ancestor.  
The next person we found was Thaddeus Winslow Cooper and to find out that he was the son of Tennesse Kid Cooper, who was raised by his mother in the more sophisticated parts of America and who joined his father on only a few heists before finding his own place of Master Heists in Victorian London was shocking.  
The idea that the Wildest of the Coopers actually fathered someone as sophisticated and gentlemen-like as Thaddeus had made me wonder what kind of wife Tennessee had found as his spirit came from his mother, yet at the same time it sounded as if Thaddeus also took after his own maternal side, using disguises rather than weapons to steal.

This had actually reminded Carmelita of the time in Bavaria where I stole the most delicious bar of chocolate in the world and I had shocked both her and Bentley when I unrolled a small section at the bottom of my cane and pulled out one last little chunk of that same chocolate bar alongside several small dripping ice cube parts.  
"I've been keeping this here for the entire time, in hopes I could one day share it with you, my darling." I had told the vixen, breaking the last bit of the world's best chocolate in half and giving her the other part, yet Carmelita had proven me her love, taking the bit and moving her hand to my own mouth instead of hers.  
I had smiled at this and while letting her take the piece in my hand did I happily bite down on the piece in hers, sucking on her fingers for a short second and using my reflexes to kiss her hand before munching on the delicious bit of chocolate, the fact that I was fed by my beloved making the taste be even sweeter than before.

We had wanted to take on the next challenge which was similar to Slytunkhamen's when suddenly Penelope had noticed Guru leaning over the edge of the with gem-encrusted goblet that stood on the right of Thaddeus' portrait and upon gazing inside it, had my eyes widened at what I actually saw lying in the center of it.  
A ring I had seen so often during my childhood, that had actually been on the finger of my mother until only a year before her death was showing in the very center of the goblet and I had felt my entire arm tremble as I took it out, memories of what an amazing woman my mother was flashing through my mind as I looked at it.  
The ring was downright gorgeous, a mix of brown amber and dark red ruby gems in the middle and two bands on either side, one golden and the other a dark silver, the two bands woven together thanks to the gems and several small beams of bronze that separated some of the gems from each other, yet connected the gold and silver.  
To see this ring here, when the last I had seen it was at the dinner table of my family home, had not been something I had expected and while I had kept looking at it with tears in my eyes and memories flashing before my mind, had Carmelita taken the Thievius Raccoonus from me and had she looked up the ring within the book.

My shock and amazement had grown when I had heard that she first found the ring in Salim's father's part of the Thievius Raccoonus and that the ring was actually created by Sabur El-Kupar in honor of the family existing for two millennia. She had then found multiple other Coopers describing how they too gave the ring to their beloveds.  
The last two of this, to my shock, had indeed been Thaddeus and my own father and my dad had continued tradition, laying the ring in the Cooper Vault section of the last ancestor before him to have used the ring before his death. At this I had pocketed the ring and thanked Carmelita for taking over my job as narrator.  
The Fox had nodded with understanding and had hugged me tightly, whispering how amazing she found my ancestors to be, especially my father and this had meant the world to me. We had held onto each other for a few more minutes, me taking advantage of my beloved's hold on me to regain my earlier strength and confidence.  
This had helped immensely at the next challenge as Thaddeus proved us all that, while he may have been a gentlemen, he certainly had some of his father's more rougher nature lying within his own as his final challenge to the next segment of the cave had been a whole series of battering hammers that we had to jump on to get up.

Bentley had cursed the fact that he was now without his wheelchair, but Penelope had just picked the turtle up and used her own jetpack to get to the top, Guru climbing onto her back as he had apparently feared not being able to time his jumps correctly, something I had been slightly unsure of myself as I had gazed upon the contraption.  
Still, Carmelita had smiled at me with that million dollar smile and just to see the confidence she had in me shining in those beautiful chocolate colored eyes had made me crouch down, rush forward and jump the hammers with speed, agility and precision, Carmelita actually coming up right behind me, but always staying 2 hammers under me.  
We had jumped from one hammer to another and while there were some that almost blocked my jumping path, had I kind of wondered what I was afraid of when reaching the top and helping Carmelita onto the cave indent before we had been shocked by the screams of delight coming from Penelope and Bentley.

Instantly I had realized that we must have reached Otto van Cooper's section and I had smiled in pure pride and happiness with my arms crossed as Carmelita, Guru and I watched how the turtle and mouse moved all over the section, happily squealing and talking to each other as they looked at all of the mechanics stored around the platform.  
Then Penelope had found what I had hoped she would; the blueprints that I was sure Otto would keep here as I had read about some of his designs but never found the blueprints for them in the Thievius Raccoonus and with Bentley by her side had the little mouse sat down and started to mutter and ponder over what she saw.

At this I had moved over, tapped Bentley on the shoulder and asked: "You two stay here till we get back?" The turtle had smiled and nodded, thanking me with his eyes for giving him this chance and while hurting over how I had yet to leave another 2 team members behind, did their enjoyment here salivate some of that pain.  
Guru had, this time, taken to my own back and I had guided him and Carmelita past the mechanical hooks that opened and closed on their own device, telling Carmelita not to follow me until I had reached the other side, so I could tell her when to swing. The Fox had agreed and we had both safely passed the challenge.  
There I had found some more mechanical inventions of my ancestor before stumbling upon a challenge that had Otto's signature abilities written all over it as the challenge consisted of propellers stuck to small mountains covered in moss that turned off and on all by themselves just like the hooks from before.

Carmelita had been a little unnerved by seeing, but I had again safely guided her through, telling her how it was a challenge made to test out one's reaction time and how, after the first jump, she only needed to take a single breath before making her next as that would allow her to make the next propeller just when it stopped.  
The vixen had not been entirely sure of my explanation, yet I had proven her I was right by waiting for the first propeller to stop moving, making the jump, breathing in once before breathing out while making the next and then repeating the process. Carmelita had felt her confidence return at seeing this and had followed me.

Then we find what I had been most eager to find, the actual section my father had put into the Vault before his passing, showcasing a beautiful glass case, a couple of metallic suitcase , a generator on the right of the case, another on the right of the vault section and a computer and microscope on either side of my father's portrait.  
Here I see a small pedestal standing next to the microscope and while sincerely wanting to keep it, do I lay the ring I found in Thaddeus' goblet onto the pedestal, the ring itself actually glowing as if accepting its new place of ownership and another warm feeling of pride and acceptance rushing through me like before.  
Recognizing this feeling yet realizing that it's not like when my friends and I would cuddle up together, do I allow for a single tear to slip through my closed eyes as I suddenly feel as if I am back in my father's arms, as if Connor Cooper's spirit has passed on from the next plain to this one to see me reach this part of the vault.

Trembling with the desire to hold onto what I have left of my father, do I feel Carmelita hugging me from behind and while the feeling of my father's presence fills me up on the inside, do I turn to hug Carmelita to my person as tightly as possible, wanting to use this moment to connect my past to my present and possible future.  
At this I actually hear my father's voice speaking deep within me and I hear him whisper from the inside of my ear as he says: "You're the best chapter of my entire life, my son. And your partner will no doubt present you with a gift similar to the one your mother gave me when she birthed you. I love you, my little Coon."

And those three words make me break down, my heart getting overwhelmed with all the pain and happiness I had felt for the last decade and some years, when my parents had been murdered before my eyes and when I had found a new family with my friends at the orphanage before meeting the girl of my dreams and heart.  
Carmelita just keeps holding onto me and while I finally feel at peace with what happened when I was eight years old, do I not even feel scared or hurt or heartbroken when I realize that I have lost the presence of my father from my heart and mind, instead I feel stronger and greater than ever before, in the arms of my beloved partner.

I pull away from her, kiss her on the cheek as a thank you and wipe my tears away before a sense of curiosity takes over me as I wonder why my dad called me the greatest chapter in his life. Looking around the vault and what my father left here, do I suddenly notice a small dark red iron covered journal stalled out in the glass case.  
I walk over and see that the lock on the case has the same shape as the tip of my cane and while gently maneuvering the tip into and through the lock, do I smile in pride at hearing it open and with gentle care do I open the case slightly, bend my arm under the glass and take the journal, relocking the case once I am sure I have the book.  
Carmelita and Guru look at me the entire time I work on this and while I feel curious as to what could be written within, do I simply stick it under my shirt like Riochi's treasure before moving onto the next challenge, this one making me feel a little unnerved as there is only a single laser beam that crossed the gap between 2 caves.

"How am I supposed to get through this thing? My father made this challenge for a move I've never learned … there's nothing like this in the Thievius Raccoonus. Come on, dad, help me out here." And while I don't feel the same presence, do I still feel the need to look beyond the laser beam, seeing an image of the Cooper Symbol above it.  
This too is made of the laser beams but then with the lights coming from a different part of the cave and while I feel amazed at how my father must have maneuvered himself to the point where he got to install that series of laser lights, does looking at the symbol of my family ancestry somehow make me realize exactly how to do this.  
"It's just like Tennessee's Rail Slide technique, but then with a laser instead of a railroad track. So that means –." Goes through my mind before I take a few steps back, crouch down yet again and make a rushing jump, turning and twisting my body exactly like I would do when using Tennessee's move and landing on the beam perfectly.

Carmelita and Guru look at me shocked and while I slide down the beam, do I shout: "It's just like Tennessee's. You just need to make the same moves as with the Rail Slide Technique." And because Carmelita learned this technique shortly after visiting Tennessee's part of the cave, does she take Guru on her back and follow me.  
The next part shocks and astounds me as there are laser lights all over the small cave with only a few of them stationed in the way that makes us capable of sliding alongside them and while jumping onto the first of the beams, can I not help but say to myself the words: "Nice work, dad." My pride for my father growing as I slide along.  
In total do Carmelita and I slide along and jump over to five beams of laser light and at the end of this, do I see a door similar to the one where we first entered the Cooper Vault and while it opens to my presence, do I feel awed as I say: "This must be the Inner Sanctum. Wish Bentley and Murray were here for this."

And Carmelita lovingly grabs and squeezes my hand while Guru climbs off her back and we pass through the door, past another three large piles of gold and through one last stone door. Reaching through, do we hurriedly jump down and slide across another beam of laser light, astonished to see them surrounding the entire room.  
Looking around the room, do I see all kinds of transport devices and when recognizing one of them, do I say: "This is just overwhelming! Amazing! How'd Thaddeus made a flying machine in the eighteen hundreds? Bet this thing still works." But while the others are as amazed as me, do they still look around further.  
Doing the same myself, do I suddenly notice something particular and say: "Hey, that pipe in the middle of the sanctum roof seems somehow connected to these three round platforms. Could my family have hidden further treasures under them?" To this Carmelita actually draws her shock-pistol and fires at the pipe.

The electrical shock hits the center of the pipe and to my amazement does a boat with super-powerful engine in the back and with the Cooper Symbol made of iron covering the front top of the boat. I look from the boat to Carmelita and she nods, firing a second shot at the pipe and with the hit, opening a second door in the floor.  
From this one a helicopter with the Cooper Symbol at the front appears and while I feel a little worried over how the metal parts of this one look to be old and rusting, do I take another glance at Carmelita as indication that I want to see the last vehicle. She shoots one last time and from the final floor door open up to reveal a car.  
The car is made of iron and build with the Cooper Symbol showing very tiny-like at the front hood of the car, while the car itself is a convertible with a windbreaker hanging from the back, a brown leather front seat and a black leather backseat. I look from the car, to the boat to the helicopter and wonder: "Are all these made by Thaddeus?"

But then Guru points to something and in his own native tongue asks: "What's in there, Sly?" And looking at where the little guy is pointing to, do I see another large door, again shaped like the Cooper Symbol, confusing me as I was certain I had actually reached the very center of what was my family's ancestral legacy.  
I run over, jumping onto the laserbeam and sliding over to the door, that amazingly enough opens as I slide over and when I look in, my eyes widen beyond believe as hundreds of gaps in the vault floor are filled with gold, treasure chest, a miniature version of the Statue of Liberty, a Viking ship and bags of money with dollar signs on them.  
"My father's treasures." I whisper in awe as I look at the evidence of all of my father's actual heists and when Carmelita and Guru join me, does Carmelita gasp and whisper: "There's treasure worth millions in this place. Your – your father was one amazing thief, Sly. Meaning you have a lot to live up to, don't you think?"  
And just by the challenging tone in her voice does the Inner Cooper within me rear up, making a feral grin of determined victory slide across my face as I hiss dangerously: "Challenge accepted." Before turning my back on my dad's legacy, determined to fill that vault room to the point I can't even open the door without losing treasure anymore.

* * *

_**Okay, that's it.  
**__**Okay, so my plan not to mention all of the Ancestors of Sly 3 failed miserably, but that's because I suddenly noticed how many era's actually go along with theirs or happen during theirs, but then in different parts of the world and – being the history lover that I am – I just decided to forge my own OC characters around them.  
**__**Next chapter will be the epilogue, it will – like with Trust Thy Foe – take place a few years after the events of the games and it will – WARNING – be so that Sly 4 and 5 – whenever that comes out – NEVER HAPPENED! There was no time travel, there was no betrayal of Penelope to the gang, there was never any Le Paradox junk.  
**__**Sorry, hate the guy,**_

_**Venquine1990**_


	5. 17 Years Later

_**Hey everyone,  
Decided to do something a little special here. Instead of it being someone of the future recalling the past, having it be in Sly, Carmelita, Bentley, Murray or another Cannon's POV or have it be like my epilogue to A Gang And A Family or Trust Thy Foe, did I decide to implement the whole thing that the first Sly Game was centered around; The Thievius Raccoonus.  
Hope you enjoy,**_

_**Venquine1990**_

* * *

_**17 years later**_

_My name is Jake Theodore Cooper. I am the 14 year old son of Interpol Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox and Master Thief Sly Cooper. I know, weird family, huh. Well, it gets even crazier as I have a genius for a godfather, a wrestler for a surrogate uncle and I am falling head over heels for the grand-daughter of the Chinese Powerhouse.  
__Muerna King, daughter of Jing King and Murray, my surrogate Uncle, has the strength of her father and the mesmerizing beauty of her mother and, to make matters even more interesting, is she also my powerhouse partner in crime as she is the brawn of my own Cooper team, while the daughter of Bentley and Penelope is my brains.  
__I know for a fact that my father is proud beyond words that I have made my gang exist out of kids from his own team and I am determined to make the same close family bond with them as he had with Uncle Bentley and Murray, even if I am still blessed with the fact that this never has to happen due to me being an orphan._

_No, in that sense are both my parents very protective of each other, my dad always telling my mum everything that will and can happen during his heists and my mum always making sure my dad knows what her latest job is on before she moves out of town to hunt down another criminal, my dad often sending his team to help her.  
__I know my mum, at first, had not been happy to have the Cooper gang, minus their leader, follow her every mission, yet over the years that I had been alive had both my parents learned to have their two professions work together, several Interpol inspectors becoming friends with my dad and helping his team protect him where necessary._

_Yet, while this is all true and while I may have formed my own team a few years ago, just before I turned eight and inherited my dad's family manual, am I not an only child as my mum was discovered to be very, very fertile, giving me the pleasure of having another two brothers and a single sister to play with and watch out for.  
__And watching out I really do need to do sometimes as, even though she grew up in a family of criminals and law-defenders, has my sister really taken after my mum, learning from the French and other Codes whenever possible and actually making herself an actual shock-pistol when she was only ten years old.  
__Cristina is my 2 years younger sister and let me tell you, being hit with electricity would make any twelve year old cry out in pain, especially when you have a sister that has yet to learn how much volt a body can take. Mum and dad had been frightened beyond words that day and Christina had been grounded for a month.  
__Sure, my mum had been proud to hear that her little girl took after her, but she had not accepted for Christina to use me as target practice, not even when Christina used the argument that she wanted me to be more like mum. This had actually hurt dad, who had taken to me a lot after this, needing the whole month to heal from that slight._

_Grandma and grandpa Fox had been no less pleased with my little sister and they had made her swear never to take her shock-pistol with her when she came to visit. Christina had been angry, believing that everyone was against her and that they all supported me, but mum had taken her to task, telling her the consequences of her actions.  
__Christina had definitely been stubborn, something she and I both inherited from both our parents, but my dad had not accepted for her stubbornness to make her uncaring to me and he had told her: "Family is family and family does not hurt family, Christina. Remember that." And with that Christina had come around.  
__She had apologized to both me and to our parents, to me for wanting to change me from what is rightfully my legacy and to my parents for the insult she threw at our paternal family legacy and for how she had made a weapon she was not yet ready to make use of. All of us had smiled and the family had been back to normal._

_Well, as normal as living in a house with a master thief, an Interpol Inspector, a prodigy master thief, a prodigy Inspector and a set of twins that love the Interpol Weapons and the nighttime adventures of a Master Thief can be, as my 6 year younger brothers Ryan and Henry are somehow a mix of both my parents' legacies.  
__They too are constantly trying to nick my mum's and little sister's shock pistol and my mum had been hysteric when, seven years ago, she had found my one year old little brother actually sucking on her shock pistol while my other little brother had been happily dangling from the side of the playpen they had been put in for the day.  
__My dad had been amazed at the fact that little Ryan had actually bent the bars of the playpen and had snuck out when he was only a year old, yet my mum had not taken notice of this until an hour after she had taken the pistol from my little brother's mouth, giving him a plastic tea pot that Christina loved to play with to suckle on instead._

_That had been the first time my brothers had tried nicking weaponry off of my parents and sister and it had definitely not been the last, even though their latest attempt had actually been their most successful and their best; after a tiring day as a thief, my dad had sloppily left the cane near my brothers and they had nicked it.  
__My dad hadn't even noticed this until the next morning, having headed for bed straight after coming home for dinner and sleeping until the late hours of the next morning. Yet when he had groggily woken and realized that he couldn't reach for his cane, something he used to pull himself out of bed, had he instantly been wide awake.  
__He had searched the entire house for the cane, almost flipping over several large pieces of ornament and waking mum, who had still been sleeping when he woke and when she asked what all the fuss was about, had she been surprised to hear that dad's cane was gone before Christina, reading a book, told him that the twins had it.  
__Dad had been shocked and amazed and asked: "The twins? How?" To which the girl snickered and answered: "You didn't take it with you when you left the dinner table. They know not to enter your bedroom, dad, but the kitchen is a different story." And while dad had felt stupid for making this mistake, had he been proud nonetheless._

_And that's actually everything that happened just last week, but right now, I have to get going. My dad has a major heist planned and I've been learning from him through these heists for years, by going along and actually nicking something other than what he has his eyes on, not that my dad knows this. Jack Cooper out._

_**Yeah, that's what you think, Jake. Sly Cooper, proud father and Master thief.**_

* * *

_**And there you have it!  
**__**The last section might not have been as long as the Cooper Vault thing – which went on WAY longer than I had planned, but I have to say that I am very happy with what I wrote, especially that little joke I put in the end, that was just too good to pass on. I didn't plan to add Sly's sentence at first, but I'm glad I did.  
**__**Now I know that this isn't actually a Story Plan that you found in the series, but the reason behind that is that I just couldn't find a good point to end the story plan at, so I decided to just write the whole thing out. Also, I know that I left out the events of Sly 4, but I just don't like adding that seeing the secret ending of the game.  
**__**Next will probably be the whole thing with Sly discovering that his father is still alive and going out to find him. Either that, the one with the letters Sly writes to Bentley and Carmelita or the one where Sly discovers that a friend from his early childhood is actually Carmelita's brother, which takes place after Sly 3 ends.  
**__**Okay enjoy,**_

_**Venquine1990**_


End file.
